abbaye de Châtrices

The abbaye de Châtrices stands in the village of Châtrices in the Marne département, once home to Augustinian monks. First mentioned in 1103, it was founded by Albéron de Chiny, bishop of Verdun, and built under the direction of Eustache, abbot of Monthiers. A papal bull of 1197 allowed the monastery to receive both clergy and lay people seeking retreat or conversion. The wars of religion brought fire in 1562, and later pillages in 1597 destroyed the community’s archives. After further destruction during the Fronde and the siege of Sainte-Menehould, the monks abandoned the abbey in 1652. The abbey grew through donations and became a major landowner. It owned farms such as Grigny near Étang d’Elise, Moncet near Braux-Saint-Remy, and Châtillon on its namesake slope. Other properties included Frenel, Failley, and Veranut farms, along with mills on the Ante and Aisne rivers. These estates were worked by local tenants, who paid rents in money and kind. The abbey’s woods were later attached to the national domain after the French Revolution. Today only remnants remain of the once large complex. Visitors can still see parts of the conventual buildings and traces of the farms and mills. The site lies close to the Argonne forest, where the abbey’s cygne d’argent in its coat of arms recalls its royal ties. The surrounding countryside offers quiet walks among the old estates and along the riverbanks once worked by the monks.